FOXHUNTING
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—W. M. Lodge writes " One thing emerges very clearly from Mr. Bartlett's letter : he knows nothing whatever about foxes." What grounds your correspondent has for such a wild leap in the dark it is impossible to discern. For his or her information I have lived in counties in which all blood- sports are practised. I have, in order to obtain first-hand knowledge of the subject, attended fox hunts, stag hunts and otter hunts. I have watched foxes at very close quarters and I have, after long, patient waiting seen a vixen playing with her cubs, surely one of the most delightful sights in the whole realm of nature. I have also witnessed the revolting sight of a fox being torn to pieces by hounds, by no means the " immediate death " which many foxhunters It is, of course, foolish to expect those who practise or support cruelty openly to confess that fact, but the curious evasions so many of them adopt in replying to the arguments of those who condemn the cruelties practised in all blood- sports are really astonishing. But also encouraging. For every year brings nearer the day when Parliament will most certainly abolish stag hunting and then fox and otter hunting. When those happy days arrive thanks will be due to The Spectator for its never-failing support for those who oppose [This correspondence is now closed.—En. The Spectator.]
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